Franklin J. Yurco, Scholar Who Loved Egyptian History, 59

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Franklin "Frank" J. Yurco, an Egyptologist with an encyclopedic
knowledge of the subject who taught everyone from tour guides to
Chicago Public Schools teachers about ancient Egypt died Friday,
February 6, 2004, in his Hyde Park, Illinois, home of a heart attack
after a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known
as Lou Gehrig's disease, at the age of 59.

"The most special thing about Frank was that he was a scholar who not
only had enthusiasm for his subject, but had a love for sharing it
with people," said Janet Johnson, a professor at the University of
Chicago's [Illinois] Oriental Institute who has known Mr. Yurco since
graduate school.

"He had a love of the classics, of all things ancient. It followed him
through his life," said his wife, Dianne Wells. "He was a loving
father who will be missed."

Born in 1944 in New York City, new York, to Czechoslovakian
immigrants, Mr. Yurco grew up in Manhattan and graduated Phi Beta
Kappa from New York University with a bachelor's degree in classics.
He came to Chicago in 1967 to attend graduate school at the University
of Chicago's Oriental Institute.

In 1968, Mr. Yurco joined the U.S. Army. He had an 11-month tour of
duty in Vietnam during the three years he served.

Mr. Yurco met his future wife in New York City and married her in
1969. He returned to his studies in 1972 at the University of Chicago
and received a master's degree in Egyptology.

He was especially known for his work on an Egyptian stele, or pillar,
that is the only one known to mention Israel, which is referred to as
a tribe.

"He was trying to figure out a date for it to give it historical
timing," Johnson said.

Mr. Yurco published scholarly and non-scholarly articles, including a
guide for Chicago Public Schools teachers on how to teach Egyptology.

He was instrumental in helping create the permanent Egypt exhibit,
"Inside Ancient Egypt," at the Field Museum, said Bob Cantu, who
worked with him at the museum and was his friend since 1979.

"He taught about 90 percent of my docents to give their tours," said
Cantu, docent coordinator at the museum.

Mr. Yurco also helped create the "Egypt in Africa" exhibit at the
Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1996.

Mr. Yurco spent most of his time teaching adult-education classes for
the Oriental Institute, the Field Museum and Oakton Community College.
He could teach anything from middle Egyptian grammar to broader
subjects like life and culture in ancient Egypt.

"Frank never needed notes to teach. He had an encyclopedic knowledge
of the ancient Near East," said Carole Krucoff, head of public and
museum education at the Oriental Institute. "But he could also make
his knowledge accessible to everyone."

He also helped lead tours to Egypt and enjoyed traveling and reading,
his wife said. Mr. Yurco held a position at the University of
Chicago's Regenstein Library until 2002, when he was diagnosed with
ALS.

"He was so delighted when he was teaching people. He will really be
missed," Krucoff said.